Ace...It’s said that when one door closes, another opens. That’s what happened to Ace. He “flunked out” of service dog training, where his reward for graduation was going to be a life of working every day to take care of human needs. As a result, he’s now a GRR foster dog, looking forward to a life of play and taking care of a human family. Smart dog!

Ace was a stray boy turned into TLAC a few months back. Texas Hearing & Service Dogs and GRR agreed he should be evaluated as a service Golden, but he proved to be a bit too active for the job—so GRR offered him a foster home with us, and he accepted! Our first meeting was at the “Oom-Pup-Paws” swimfest, where we saw Ace play with other dogs and saw his determination to fetch tennis balls. We discovered that he’s a great swimmer, too.

Ace is about two years old, beautifully Golden, and energetic—he really does like to play all the time, and he’ll go after Kongs, tennis balls, and stuffed toys until your arm falls off. But when you’re finished playing, he’ll rest at your feet and become a relaxed bundle of happy dog. He was slightly underweight when we picked him up—the service dog school deliberately keeps their pupils extra slim. He loves to eat, has started to put on a few pounds, and is filling out handsomely. He will be a gorgeous adult dog.

Ace loves to walk and loves to swim. He romps unfettered in the backyard with our two Goldens, but doesn’t pull too much on the leash on his walks. At Zilker Park, he gets along well with other dogs, and is very focused on getting any tennis ball in the water. At home, he likes to put his head on your lap and just stay there as long as you’ll pet him. Sometimes he just buries his head up against the side of your lap and relishes the quiet time.

Ace is well-trained to sit, stay, and come, and he learned very quickly that when he brings the newspaper into the kitchen from the end of the driveway he gets a “cookie.” Therefore, he really likes to be the “paperboy”! He’s housebroken, and only “broke training” once – our fault! we left him inside too long after a swim party. (Part of his swimming style involves drinking as much water as possible with each stroke.) We haven’t seen him with cats, but given his agreeable personality, he’d probably get along with them. We think Ace will fit in with an active family with children who can play lots of fetch with him; he’d also be a wonderful addition to a family with an older dog who needs to be “re-activated.”

Ace gets along well with everyone we meet. Occasionally he cowers if he thinks someone is unhappy with him, so we suspect he had a rough time somewhere before he ended up at the shelter. But that makes him even more lovable, because he’s so happy to be comforted and cuddled! We call him “Ace, the Face” because he’s so handsome. And he’ll only get better as he matures. He needs a comfortable, active home where he can run, play, and rest up for the next playtime—and get the love he deserves.
 

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